Blind Date
by weasleywheezes
Summary: Remus' blind date leads to a better understanding of himself. MWPP-era. Drama, angst, comedy, basically your run of the mill coming of age story. Implied slash. RLSB.
1. Set Up

Blind Date

By weasleywheezes

DISCLAIMER:  I am not affiliated with Scholastic, Warner Bros, basically any large corporation in the Potterverse. Sadly, I am also not affiliated with J.K. Rowling. I only borrow her marvelous characters out of respect and love for them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This story is based in part on the scene in the PoA movie, in which Professor Lupin talks to Harry about his mother being there for him in a difficult time of his life. What could be a difficult time for a boy who's been a werewolf since puberty?

"Remus, I've set you up on a date," James said, grinning. "You can't back out of it, because we don't have a lot of homework this weekend."

Remus shrugged his shoulders and pulled on the pillow in his lap. He knew James meant well. He had tried many excuses over the years, most of them succeeding, but he knew that there was no getting out of it this time. Remus didn't know why, but he just wasn't interested in dating. James, however, wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Remus, I know that brain of yours is working overtime, but there's no excuse that I'll accept. You're stuck, pal."

"So, James, who is it this time?" Remus sighed.

"It's one of Lily's friends from Hufflepuff."

"Yes, but who?"

"She's a very nice girl," James said uneasily.

Remus frowned a bit. This didn't look promising. "You're skirting the issue, Prongs. Who is it?"

"Er…well…" James was turning a light shade of red.

"It's Sarah Underwood!" a squeaky voice said from behind Remus. It was Peter Pettigrew, who was silently giggling into his hands impishly.

Remus made a disgusted face. "Ugh…James! Are you serious? Overbite?"

Peter wheezed, "Moony, imagine having to kiss her tomorrow. She'll bite your lip off!"

"Stop it, Peter," James admonished. "Overbite's a nice girl. Besides, she's dying to go out with you, Remus. And I'd never hear the end of it from Lily if you don't."

Remus sighed again. "Tell Lily not to hold it against you, but I'm not interested."

James opened his mouth, and by the look on his face, Remus knew he was about to say something harsh, but then…

"Not interested in what, Moony?"

Sirius Black appeared from the boys' dormitory and sat in the chair nearest Remus.

"James has set me up with Sarah Underwood."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and slapped his hand against the chair's arm. "James, you could have done better than that. Overbite! Better not hand feed her chocolates, Moony, else you'll come back missing a finger or two."

"Remus doesn't go out with _anyone_, Sirius. I'm looking out for his best interests here."

"It sounds like you're looking out for your own interests, Prongs. What, did Lily say she'd withhold unless our pal Remus here does his time with Underwood?"

James turned a deeper shade of red than before. He was standing now. "Listen, Black, you know I have Remus' happiness at heart."

"Perhaps it doesn't include a date with Overbite!"

Remus stood up and threw the pillow he was kneading into his seat. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here," he said quietly. Sirius and James stopped their bickering. Peter continued to giggle slightly.

Sirius draped his arm around Lupin's shoulders. "Come off it, Moony. Go out, have a good time, and make sure you bring some logs for that old beaver to gnaw on," he barked again.

Friday morning and afternoon dragged on for poor Remus, and it didn't help that Peter kept chomping at the air every time he looked at him. James gave him quiet words of encouragement. "Remus, after class, run up to the dormitory and wait for me and Padfoot. We'll fix you up, okay?"

He did as he was asked, and waited for James and Sirius on his bed. Sirius came up first, sat next to him, and turned to look at him.

"'lo, Moony."

"Hello, Padfoot," Remus said dejectedly.

"Man, you look like your dog just died," Sirius said playfully. "Of course, I'm sitting right here, so we know that's not true."

"I don't want to do this."

Sirius lay back onto the bed. "Don't blame you there, Remus. James could have picked someone other than Sarah Overbite for a blind date."

"It's not Overbite, I just don't want to do this. Go out, I mean."

Sirius sat up. "Chicken!" he barked.

"No! No, not chicken."

"Are you worried you might not look right? Don't worry about that; James and I will let you borrow some clothes."

"No, that's not it." Remus stared at the floor.

Sirius sat quietly for a moment, leapt to his feet. "Oh! I got it now! You're worried about _performance_!"

Remus continued to stare at the floor.

"That's it! That's it!" Sirius laughed riotously and did a little jig. "Remus, you're nervous!"

At that moment, James entered the room. "Did I miss a good joke?" he asked, grinning.

"Old Moony here is worried about the deed." Sirius patted Remus on the leg.

James started to laugh along with Sirius. "Nonsense. Overbite's a notorious prude, Remus. You've got nothing to worry about."

THREE HOURS LATER 

There he sat, in James' pants and Sirius' warm wool sweater, on the stone benches out in the gardens. In front of him sat Sarah Underwood, batting her eyes, her hands on his, waiting for him to kiss her. Remus swallowed hard. _Might as well get it over with_, he thought. He closed his eyes and moved closer to her, and when his lips met hers, it felt like ice. There was no give, no yield.

He started to sweat a little, and the heat from his nervous perspiration mingled with the lingering aftershave on Sirius' sweater. He began to smell that musky scent. In the back of his mind's eye, he saw him. Sirius Black. Sirius' voice drifted through his mind, and Remus imagined for a brief moment that it was Sirius' lips on his own. Those lips became warm, supple, delicious. He wanted to reciprocate Sirius' willing kiss. He heard the soft moaning he craved, but it wasn't Sirius' voice. The kiss was abruptly broken. Remus stood up and started to walk away from his date.

"Remus! Remus, where are you going?" Sarah gasped. "Didn't you like it?"

Remus was sweating profusely now. Suddenly, Sirius' wool sweater was suffocating him. "Sarah, I'm sorry. You have a right to know…I'm just sorry, that's all." Remus said awkwardly, and sprinted back towards the castle.

He thought he'd never get back to Gryffindor Tower. Once inside the castle, he quickly shed himself of the sweater and carried it under his arm. When he started running up the stairs, he bumped into Peter Pettigrew. Wormtail giggled, snorted once, and giggled again. "Say, Remus, you look flushed. Have a good time on your date? Did she bite a hole through you?"

Remus ignored him and continued running up the stairs, gave the Fat Lady the password, and set in a dark corner of the common area, his head in his hands. He could hear snickers echoing through the room. At least, he thought he did. The laughter became clearer, and he knew who it was. "James, do me a favor and don't set me up on any more blind dates," Remus said miserably.

"Oh, Remus, did Sarah attack you?" a feminine voice cooed.

Lupin looked up. It wasn't James, but Lily Evans, leaving the boys' part of the tower and heading towards her own. She was alone.

"Lily, it's you. Erm…it was horrible. And something strange happened. Something really scary. I kissed her."

"Remus, her teeth aren't really that big, are they?" Lily teased.

"No, that's not it. I kissed her, but when I did, I thought about someone else."

Lily clapped. "Oh, excellent! Tell me who," she said, but her excitement quickly waned when she looked into Lupin's eyes. She saw a slight fear lying just below the surface. She could tell that whomever he had thought of, he didn't like it.

Remus shuttered a little. It looked to Lily as if he was on the verge of tears. "I'm so afraid, Lily. It… I should have known. I should have been aware of it the whole time."

She took his arm and patted him softly. "Is it someone I know, Remus?" He swallowed hard and nodded his head yes. "Is it…is it me?"

"No."

Lily sighed a breath of relief.

"I can't believe it. He's always been there for me, Lily. It's…I just…"

"He, Remus? It's not James, is it?"

"No! Oh, no, not James." He grinned a little bit. "Besides, I know that it'd be stupid to mess with your squeeze, Lily."

She crossed her arms and stared at him. "Damn straight, Remus. But who is it?"

He sat stoically, stared at the floor, and twirled his hair a bit. "Come on, Remus. Out with it."

He bowed his head and murmured something.

"_Sleerus_? Who's that?" Lily said.

Remus muttered it again.

"Who the hell is Sleerus?"

"Not Sleerus. _Sirius._ I thought about Sirius, okay? There, are you happy now? Gonna go tell James and Peter about Remus the nelly boy?" He flushed a deep red.

"Oh, Remus, never. I'd never do that."

He shook with a mixture of rage and fear. "Sirius. Sirius, God damn it! I'm in love with my best friend. It's impossible, Lily. It's impossible!" he sobbed.

"Remus…" Lily said softly. She drew closer to him and cradled him in her arms. "It's all right. I'll not tell anyone. Not even James. Your secret is safe with me. It's okay, anyway. I don't think any less of you, you know."

Remus dried his tears on the sleeve of his undershirt, sniffled a little. "Thanks. No wonder James loves you so much. You… you've got a good soul, Lily Evans."

"Yeah, and don't you forget it, Remus Lupin. Now, let's figure out a good reason why you ran out on Overbite."

Lupin cracked a smile. "I thought she was your friend!"

"I am her friend, but that doesn't make me blind. She's got teeth like a giant hare," Lily quipped.

Remus laughed, and it felt like a great weight had lifted from him. He and Lily sat in the two chairs, staring at the roaring fire, working out a convincing story that he could tell the guys in the morning. He gave Lily a hug and started to go to bed, but he stopped. He looked at the sweater clutched in his hand, Sirius' sweater, smiled and pulled it back on.


	2. Confrontation

Blind Date  
By weasleywheezes  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I thought about it, and I've decided it is indeed not fair to leave the readers hanging on Remus' realization without knowing how Sirius feels. So the story continues...  
  
Saturday morning, Messrs. Prongs, Wormtail and Padfoot sat in the common room, waiting for their friend Moony to join them for breakfast. Wormtail had told the other two friends that he had encountered Lupin running up to the dormitory, flushed and sweating.

"Overbite put out for him?" James asked incredulously.

"I doubt Remus would have taken her up on it," Sirius replied sagely.

"Think about it." James, crestfallen, nodded his agreement.

Peter snickered. "But what if she attacked him?"

"Well, we'll see if there's any bite marks on his neck when he comes down for breakfast," James said.

The trio sat, patiently waiting for a half hour. Peter hummed to himself while James and Sirius continued an old game of wizard's chess. "So, do you think he's got bite marks on him?" James asked.

"Well, I glanced over at him this morning when I got out of bed," Sirius said. "He was still wearing the sweater I let him borrow. I don't think he got out of those clothes last night."

"Well, could it be he's hiding something?" James quizzed.

"Maybe. Or maybe he was just really tired and crashed before taking his clothes off."

Peter's voice echoed off the walls. "You guys, I'm hungry..."

"Stuff it, Wormtail," Sirius barked. "We're talking about more important matters right now."

James stifled a giggle. "Since when was Remus' love life a serious matter?"

"Since you've decided to set him up on these bloody ridiculous blind dates!"

They sat in silence for a few moments. Finally, Peter stood up. "C'mon, guys. We've got to get some food. I'm dying!"

James stood, also. "My stomach is growling. I've got to get some toast at least. Let's go, Peter. Sirius, are you staying here?"

"Yeah. Yeah, someone's got to wait for Remus' ass."

James laughed as he and Peter walked out of the room, chattering to the Fat Lady as the door swung shut. Sirius sat in the wingback chair in front of the fireplace, waiting until Remus appeared from the bedroom. Fifteen minutes crept by until finally Remus appeared, dressed in a ratty pair of trousers and a threadbare pullover.

"Good morning, loverboy," Sirius said quietly.

"'lo, Padfoot."

"How was your date?"

"Eh...em...it was a date."

Sirius rounded on his friend, blocking his path to the door. "Remus, you've been dodging us. What the bloody hell happened to you last night?"

Remus diverted his eyes to the floor. The last thing he wanted to do was look Sirius in those mysterious gray eyes. "We did date stuff. Walked around the grounds, ate some candy, sat in the garden, talked. You know, date _things_."

"Doesn't sound like you had a good time, mate."

Remus continued to stare at the floor. "I didn't."

"I told James it was stupid. I told him not to do it," Sirius said angrily. "Sometimes he's too headstrong for his own good, that one."

"Come off it, Sirius. You're one to talk about being headstrong. He meant well. I can't blame him for that."

"I can," Sirius scoffed. "Someone has to look out for you, Moony. You certainly can't do it alone."

Remus nodded, looked up and caught Sirius' stare. Those gray eyes twinkled slightly and it gave Remus butterflies in his stomach. God, why did he have to be so damn good-looking? "It was..." he sighed. "It was truly dreadful."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Sirius asked.

"Because...it's not as simple as that. Because I kissed her."

"You've kissed Sarah Underwood?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"What happened?" he asked, genuinely inquisitive.

"I...erm...I kissed her."

"Yes, I know this, Moony," Sirius said impatiently. "What else?"

"She was just sitting there, looking sad and pathetic, her hands cupped over mine. I couldn't get away. So I kissed her. But it was horrible. It was like kissing a block of ice."

"Oh, really?" Sirius let out a sharp bark of laughter. "What else? I know there's something else."

"I thought about someone."

"Really?" Sirius' eyebrow arched, and he smiled broadly. "So, a heart beats under that wolfish exterior, aye?"

Remus smiled shyly. "Yeah, I suppose it does."

Silence. Sirius stared at Remus for a few moments, waiting for him to divulge his secret. Finally, he spoke. "Well, who was it?"

Remus flushed. "I can't tell you, Sirius."

"Why not? We tell each other everything! Is it someone we know?"

"I can't tell you."

Sirius frowned. "Lupin... are you going to play this game with me? You have to tell me. You have to. I'll find out eventually. You know I will. I know you better than you know yourself."

Remus shook his head no. "I can't, Sirius. I just can't."

Sirius stood for a moment, his hand on Remus' shoulder, his face screwed up in thought. "My god, Lily Evans!"

"No!" Remus said quickly. "No, no, no. Oh, no. Not Lily. Definitely not Lily."

"Remus doth protest too much! My god, you sicko. Lily! That's James' girl and you know it!"

"God, no! I wouldn't...couldn't... it's not Lily."

"You've probably been waiting for the right moment to pounce on her and steal her away!"

Remus drew back, a look of horror on his face. "No! I could never do that to James."

Sirius smiled, let out one of his barking laughs. "I knew it wasn't Lily. I was just yanking your chain. Merlin, Remus, don't be so serious all the time."

_**If you only knew how Sirius this was...**_ Remus thought to himself. "Yeah. Right," he laughed nervously.

"Remus, I'll find out, if I have to drag it out of you. You do know that you talk in your sleep, don't you?" Remus regained that horrified expression as Sirius laughed at him. "Lighten up, Moony! I'm kidding with you again. You haven't had a decent sense of humour since you were made Prefect." Sirius eyed him strangely, and then said seriously, "I worry about you sometimes, my friend."

Remus swallowed, partly out of habit and partly out of fear, but there was little moisture in his throat. "Just leave it."

"Are you hungry, Remus? Because Peter and James have already gone down to the meal. They couldn't wait any longer. _Twits_," Sirius smiled at Remus, walking over towards him. "I waited for you. Proves what kind of a guy I am."

Remus smiled. "That was really nice of you, Sirius. Really."

"Hey," Sirius said, draping his arm around Remus' shoulder, "anything for a friend."

Remus smiled, but he felt like vomiting. Sirius still had no idea. His secret was safe, but it killed him inside to keep it that way. _Anything for a friend_. Oh, this was going to be much harder than he could have planned.


	3. Breakfast

Blind Date  
By weasleywheezes

DISCLAIMER: Remus, Sirius, and the rest of the Hogwarts gang do not belong to me. They belong to JK Rowling. I borrow because I love.

Remus and Sirius entered the Great Hall and headed towards their usual table. Peter, James, and Lily were all seated together, chatting happily. Remus caught Lily's eye and they both smiled.

"Good morning, Remus," Lily said.

"Good morning, Miss Evans," Remus replied.

Remus and Sirius sat next to each other, grabbing boiled eggs and large tumblers of pumpkin juice. Remus scooped a big spoonful of oatmeal onto his plate, while Sirius gnawed at a piece of sausage. James asked Remus how his date was.

"All right, I guess," Remus retorted. He crushed a few sugar cubes on top of his oatmeal. "Thank Merlin for these bottomless sugar bowls. I don't think I'd last a full breakfast without them."

Sirius grinned and grabbed a few cubes for himself, as he continued to devour his breakfast as fast as possible. "It's your best friend, Lupin. You've got the biggest sweet tooth I've ever seen!" he laughed.

The group was quiet as Sirius and Remus ate their breakfast. Suddenly, Peter's annoying, high-pitched giggle pierced the air. "So, Remus, my friend, did you score?"

James smacked him on the arm. "Peter! Not in front of the lady! Sorry about that, Evans. I was wondering, though, Remus… you did try, didn't you?"

It was Lily's turn to slap James on the arm. "James Potter!"

Remus blushed a bit. "No. Didn't get any. Sorry to disappoint you."

Peter and James both groaned. "Remus, I set you up on these dates so you can get some action. You're letting me down! Where's the wild and crazy Moony that used to own Gryffindor Tower? Didn't you do anything? Didn't you hold her hand, smell her hair, anything? You've become such a prude!" James exclaimed.

Lily sighed. "James, you're the one who got him into this mess. You should lighten up."

The group sat with disgusted looks on their faces. Remus avoided looking into his friends' eyes, casting downward glances at his boiled egg. It was quiet for a while as Remus and Sirius ate breakfast, James and Lily murmured to one another, and Peter sat staring at them all. Finally, Sirius broke the silence.

"He kissed her."

"What?" James and Peter both shrieked and howled with laughter.

"He kissed Overbite."

"See! I told you! I told you!" Peter giggled again and danced a little in his seat.

Remus sighed and glanced over at Lily. She smiled affably, cleared her throat and said, "You guys, don't you think that maybe that's Remus' business?"

James smiled sweetly. "Remus' business is our business, Lily. You sound a lot like your nosy sister, you know, when you crack the whip like that," he said. He didn't like Petunia Evans in any way, and always spoke in disparaging tones about her. "Anyway, Remus is my friend, I want him to be happy."

Sirius' bark-like laugh brought everyone's attention to him. "It's no use being nice, Prongs. He's tightlipped about the whole thing. I tried to get him to spill the beans in the tower. Besides, he didn't like the kiss. He said it was 'dreadful.'"

Peter snickered. "You were beet red and sweating when I saw you on the stairs!"

Remus blushed again and looked to Lily for help. She obliged. "Remus was probably embarrassed that it got as far as it did, since he didn't have a good time."

James swallowed another chortle and looked at Remus with a straight face. "I'm very sorry I set you up with Overbite. Truly sorry. I have no one to blame…but Lily." He smiled wickedly.

"Hey! Potter, you creep!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh! So, now I'm a creep, huh?" James stuck his tongue out at her. "You didn't say that last evening!"

"Remus isn't the only one who got lucky last night, huh?" Peter crowed.

James stopped laughing and stared straight at Peter. "You never know when to shut your mouth, Wormtail. Remus didn't get lucky, and you shouldn't talk about Lily that way. She's a lady." Peter gulped and muttered an apology to Lily. James glared at him, turned back to his girlfriend and smiled. "Well, Evans, shall we go?"

"Go where?" she countered.

"To the garden. I want to try and study for History of Magic and I need some help. Would you care to study with me?"

She giggled. Everyone knew that when James said "study for History of Magic", he actually meant a make out session. "Certainly. After all, who can help you study better than a Head Girl?" The two left.

Peter followed them out the door, but turned towards the library, leaving Sirius and Remus alone in the Great Hall. Sirius decided to try to talk to his friend man to man. "Come on, Moony. Let's talk. What's eating you, mate?"

"Oh, nothing."

Sirius nodded as he took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. "Is it because Christmas holiday is coming soon and you'll be all alone here at the school?"

"Oh, well, not really. I wasn't even thinking about it," Remus responded.

"Yes, you were. Well, I was going to keep it a surprise, but since you're so glum I feel like I should let you know right now. Hopefully it'll give you something to look forward to."

"What is it? Not another date, is it?" Remus asked.

"No way. I've decided that I'm staying on for the holidays instead of going home with Prongs and his family," Sirius said with a smile.

"You're staying here? At Hogwarts? With me?"

"Yes. Yes, and I think there's another yes in there, somewhere."

Remus grinned broadly. "That's wonderful! Just you and me, aye?"

"Uh huh. I figured that you needed someone to spend some time with this year, since this is our last boyhood Christmas together."

"That's very nice of you, Padfoot. Very nice," Remus replied.

Remus couldn't help but think that this was going to be a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because as far as he was concerned, he wanted to spend more time with Sirius, and there was the fact that Christmastime was quite lonely for him being alone every year at Hogwarts. However, since Remus' realization that he was, in fact, attracted to Sirius, he was afraid to be completely alone with him. A few days alone with no Prongs, Wormtail, or Lily to help buffer them would be uncomfortable and scary.

He shook his head. The full moon was upon them, and Remus knew that he'd have to go to the Shrieking Shack soon. He hated transforming into a wolf, but the loneliness was almost worse. At least his friends tried to keep him company during these times. Sirius' transformation into a great black dog had been most comforting. When the wolf in Remus went too far, it was up to the Animagus dog to rein him in and keep him from hurting the deer James Potter and the rat Peter Pettigrew. Remus knew that he would never have more devoted friends than the three who risked everything to keep him safe. They had kept his horrible secret for years. What would they do if they knew his other secret? What would James and Peter say if they knew that he had thought of _Padfoot_ when he kissed Sarah Underwood? Worst of all, what would Sirius say to him, do to him? To Remus, it was unthinkable. He knew what he must do. He had to keep it clandestine in order for his friendship to survive, because without Sirius Black, his life felt so incredibly empty.

"Hello, Moony! Can you hear me? Have you suddenly gone mental? That's the second time in an hour that you've forgotten what a nice guy I am," Sirius said, bits of scone flying out of his mouth as he spoke.

"No, I'm just tired, Padfoot. It's almost time, you know."

Sirius washed his scone down with more juice. "Don't you worry, mate. I'll be here for you." Sirius took hold of Remus' shoulder and clasped it tight. "You can always count on me."

"Yeah, I know," Remus said quietly.

"Well, time for me to run. I think I've got a number of rocks to throw at some lovebirds," Sirius let out one of his barks and ran out of the Great Hall, leaving Remus alone with his cold egg and his rapidly shrinking appetite.


	4. Jitterbug, Snickerdoodle

Blind Date  
By weasleywheezes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following chapter is based on PoA Movie Canon, which, in my opinion, greatly expanded the fandom knowledge of one Remus John Lupin.

Remus slowly ambled up the stairs as the portraits talked nonstop to him. The giraffe stalked him around the room. Mad Sir Cadogan followed him from step to step, challenging him to a duel, until the picture of the woman with child shushed him. "My child is sleeping, Sir Knight," she said gently. Sir Cadogan rode away, pouting.

He dully said the password to the Fat Lady and went into the Tower, making a beeline toward his trunk. Inside he found a small phonograph player and a few records. He took them out and set up the player in the common room. Tomorrow, he would have to flee the tower and sleep in the shack, and he had to try and force himself into a good mood until that time arrived. Tonight, it was time for music – jolly music.

The needle hit the record, and the comforting _hiss-pop_ of vinyl soothed Remus' ears. The notes came tripping out of the player, and soon Remus was practicing a dance that he had heard was called a "jitterbug". It was difficult to do, considering that he had no partner, and he had only read about it in Muggle books and seen it in Muggle motion pictures before he had come to Hogwarts seven years ago.

Muggle music was his secret obsession, especially music from what the Muggle history books called World War II. It was called "swing music" and it had a joy and optimism that Remus found refreshing, especially considering that it was a dark period for Muggles during that time. He had discovered it early in his childhood, long before he had been accepted to Hogwarts, long before he had been attacked and turned into a werewolf. The older he got, the more he understood the power of music to lift one up out of their doldrums. Remus Lupin had many reasons to be depressed, but he chose instead to try and look forward to the future. Besides, he had friends now who would do anything for him, people in his life that believed in him and knew he could make something special out of his life.

The cheerful blast of the horn section from "Sing Sing Sing" seemed to ricochet off of the stones in the common room. Remus danced with abandon, humming along with the horns and clarinets, his eyes closed and imagining himself in a large dance hall, dressed in a sharp suit and shaking a leg with all his friends. The moon was out and he wasn't turning into a wolf. Sirius grabbed his hand and they jitterbugged to Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Tommy Dorsey. He opened his eyes when the needle slipped off the record and the scratchy hiss echoed through the space. A daydream, nothing more. It would never happen, because he would always be a werewolf and Sirius would never feel the same way that he did.

Remus collapsed into one of the wingback chairs that dotted the common area, stroked his temples and cursed his luck. Sirius Black was a bona fide ladies' man, constantly flirting with the girls and showing them a good time. He was sexy as hell, and everyone wanted a piece of him. Sirius enjoyed it, too; flashing that brilliant smile to everyone he met. Those grey eyes were so mesmerizing that every girl – and probably a few guys, truth be told – were half in love with Sirius Black. Remus thought about it every moment since he had kissed Sarah and saw Sirius' face instead. When did it start? Why did it take him so long to admit it?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had these feelings towards Sirius for years. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he thought, perhaps, that it started third year. They were all still ungainly teenaged boys with blemishes and strange shaped hands and feet, but Peter had lost a stone or two, and the three remaining marauders had hit their growing spurts. They had all decided to have one last swim in the lake before the end of term. The lads shed their clothes and showed up at the edge of the lake in their swim trunks. James, a natural athlete, vaulted in and began swimming laps right away. Peter entered the lake at a snail's pace, shivering the whole time, and then quickly dipped under the water and started swimming, too. Sirius jumped in straight away and treaded water.

"Hey, Remus! It's brisk but nice, come on in!"

"I'm coming."

Remus dove in afterwards, but hit his head on a rock and became disoriented. He got to the surface and cried for help. Sirius rushed to his side and pulled him out of the lake. The last thing Remus remembered was Sirius performing artificial breathing on him. "Come on, Moony…come on…" he murmured in his ear. "You've got to stay with me." The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the infirmary with bandages on his head and a sleeping Sirius Black in the chair next to the bed.

_Funny. I haven't thought about that in years, _Remus thought to himself. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he didn't think about romance or love or anything like that. It was just friends with him. Now, as a man, he thought about how devoted Sirius had always been to him, and how important he was to him. It didn't really matter when Remus' feelings turned, but they did, and he had to find some way to get over it.

He got up and put another record on the phonograph, this one was a particular favorite of his, "That Old Black Magic." Muggles' idea of magic was a quaint one, he always thought. If they knew the truth, they wouldn't be so afraid of it. However, it wasn't the idea of "black magic" that caused Remus to like the song. It was the yearning that the singer conveyed. Remus shuffled his feet around the floor, pretending he was dancing with someone graceful, when the door slammed shut behind him.

"Lupin. Thought I'd find you here."

It was Sirius, who had a furious scowl, giving him a dark look. Lupin stopped dead in his tracks. He wondered who could have put Sirius in his foul mood.

"Padfoot, what happened?"

"Severus Snape, that's what happened! The prat threw a dungbomb at James and Lily," Sirius growled, completely forgetting that he had been throwing rocks at the couple mere minutes before. "It ruined poor Lily's shirt. She's crying in Professor McGonagall's office right now. Of course, James went mad and he ran to Snape with his wand out, threatening to turn him into a beetle and then crush him with his shoe. I was on my way to join him, but Dumbledore appeared and broke up the fight. Prongs and Snape are both in his office now, and Dumbledore sent me to the Tower. But what he doesn't know is that I've already gotten my revenge. I hexed Snape from behind."

"Sirius!"

"Moony, don't get all 'rulebook' on me, now. I hexed him from behind and he'll have horrible acne for a week. Not that anyone looks at that ugly git's face anyway. Who can see anything with that nasty, greasy hair in the way?" Sirius fumed.

Remus was silent for a moment, as the haunting melody of "That Old Black Magic" circled around them. Finally, Sirius sat in a chair and sighed.

"Remus… mate, really, why in hell do you listen to this music?"

Remus shook his head. Sirius' rotten frame of mind was already lifting if he was complaining about the tunes. "Because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing, Sirius."

"Doo wah doo wah," Sirius replied. The two laughed, and a grin split Sirius' face.

"Care to dance?" Remus asked politely.

"Nah. I'd rather watch you do it."

"It's tomorrow, you know."

Sirius frowned again. "I know. Don't worry about it until the time comes. C'mon, Remus. Do that snickerdoodle dance."

"Jitterbug?" Remus asked, trying without much luck to hide his laughter.

"Jitterbug, snickerdoodle, who understands these Muggles anyway?" Sirius said, and then barked. "Just do it and get this rubbish off your phonograph!"


	5. Full Moon Overture

Blind Date  
by weasleywheezes  
  
Chapter 5 - Full Moon Overture  
  
A/N: Sorry this has been late in coming - suffering from terrible writer's block. Enjoy!  
  
It was routine by now. The day of the full moon, Remus would walk to the Whomping Willow with the school's nurse, shake her hand and duck down underneath the tree, disappearing into it. He walked the long, narrow corridor to the Shrieking Shack, and waited for the moment when the moon's full power would beam through the windows and he would transform into a gruesome, snarling beast. It was automatic. All he could do was wait for the inevitable.  
  
He waited for what seemed like forever. The silence was almost worse than the transformation, but he knew it was for the best. He looked out the window and saw the shadows of the trees surrounding the shack. The moon would soon part company from the clouds and his nightmare would begin. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were covered with fur, his fingernails turned into long, horrible claws. His pupils dilated, his mouth growing wide as his nose grew longer and his jaw dislocated, forming a snout. The pain was intense; the misshapen bones and rapidly growing skin itched. He felt as though his entire body had been broken in two, but the pain was only beginning. His limbs stretched and the remaining skin on his body turned into sleek fur. His teeth grew sharp, incisors dripping with saliva peeked out of his muzzle. He fell onto all fours. Finally, he caught glimpse of the moon, and let loose a disturbing cry of anguish and pain, the echo of the howl vibrating him, causing his aching bones to hurt even more.  
  
Remus' wolf sense took over as he sniffed around the hovel looking for food. Dumbledore was always kind enough to bring a few chicken carcasses to the shack before the full moon for Remus to devour. He found the birds and ate one. He wanted so badly to escape from the house, to look for a person to bite, to devour, to...  
  
The human cried out from within him. _You're not a wolf._ The wolf howled again. The human took control for a moment and clawed the animal's muzzle. The wolf howled, but it sounded like a scream. He bit himself, scratched himself, and barked madly, and after an hour of this self-imposed torture, the wolf went to sleep.  
  
As the wolf slept, a giant black dog crept into the hovel and lay next to him. The wolf awoke and saw the dog. He growled. The dog growled. They fought claw-to-claw, muzzle to snout, and the wolf collapsed back into sleep as the dog licked its wounds and the wolf's, also.  
  
Hours crept by. The sun started coming up, and Remus began his painful transformation back into human form. The snout shrunk back into his face; the fur crawled back under the skin, which was now red and irritated. The claws turned back into fingernails, and he was back to normal. Back to Remus. Still laying beside him was the great black dog. Remus reached out to pet him. The dog whimpered. It seemed that during the fight with the wolf, it had been injured. There was a bloody slash near its nose. Remus tried to touch the dog, but the dog rolled away. He limped away from Lupin, barking softly.  
  
"Padfoot..." Lupin said horsely. "Sirius." Then he collapsed into unconciousness.  
  
When Remus awoke, the black dog was gone. Lupin sat quietly next to the window, staring out at the trees that surrounded the shack. He wanted so badly to stop being a lycanthrope, to be able to live a normal life and be a normal guy, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had resigned himself to a life of solitude and unhappiness, unless he could find the right woman. Turned out that the right woman was really a man. His best friend, the one person in the world that made him smile and feel happy to be alive. The one person in the world who soothed the crushed feeling inside when he thought about what a raw deal he had been dealt. That person wouldn't be a woman, like he had always imagined, but a man. Sirius. What in the world would he say to his friends? Lily knew, but Lily was unusually kind to sadsacks. She was even nice to Severus Snape, who certainly didn't deserve it. Remus knew that she felt sorry for him. He knew that no one else would take his news so calmly. To Remus, it felt rather like the dread he felt before turning into a werewolf, but he had to face it. He had to let someone know, or it would kill him inside. He knew that they would find out sooner rather than later anyway. Remus swallowed hard. The revelation would be soon, and he thought it would be easiest to tell Sirius during the Christmas holiday. He thought that might be the hardest person to tell. At least there wouldn't be anyone else there to overhear what could possibly be the most important moment of Remus' life.  
  
He returned slowly to his normal routine. The day after the full moon found Remus walking from the Whomping Willow with the school's nurse. He walked the long, narrow corridor to the school infirmary, and waited for the moment when the medicines would be dabbed onto his wounds, a searing pain rushing through his body. He would be given a Dreamless Sleep potion to recuperate. He would be sent back to his room, where Sirius would be sitting on his bed, rummaging through his record collection and hanging around for him. It was automatic. All Remus could do was wait for the inevitable. 


	6. Now or Never

Blind Date

By weasleywheezes

Chapter 6 -

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with Scholastic, Warner Bros, basically any large corporation in the Potterverse. Sadly, I am also not affiliated with J.K. Rowling. I only borrow her marvelous characters out of respect and love for them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay. I have had terrible writer's block, along with completely blanking out on the Potterverse for a while and getting ideas solely for the Buffy fandom. I apologize and hope the wait was worth it. It's a short chapter, but I am quite proud of it. :)

Remus woke up on Christmas day to the sound of Sirius Black, snoring loudly in the bed beside him. He stifled a laugh. After these seven years of sleeping in the same dormitory as him, he knew when Sirius was faking it. Remus moved slightly and saw Sirius lying on his side, staring at him. He smiled.

"Happy Christmas, old friend," Sirius said. He threw his pillow at him.

"Happy Christmas to you."

Sirius leapt to his feet. "What do you say to breakfast and then some gift opening?"

"I'd say you've got a great idea, but I don't have any gifts."

Sirius laughed; the barking sound echoed through the nearly empty chamber. "Haven't any gifts? Are you mad, Moony? I suppose that Lily and James and Peter and I aren't giving gifts this year?"

"I didn't say that," Remus replied. "It's just that I haven't gotten anyone any gifts this year. I didn't have enough gold."

Sirius frowned. "I suppose that you couldn't have asked your old friend Sirius for a little gold, hmmm?"

Remus shook his head. "You give me too much already."

Sirius was in the process of pulling on a shirt and a pair of trousers. "I do what?"

"Nothing."

"Figures." He smiled at his old friend.

The two went to the Great Hall, where breakfast was being served. Remus had scrambled eggs, raisin scones, and a piece of sausage. Sirius had baked beans, dry toast, and a hard boiled egg. They washed their meal down with pumpkin juice, and ran outside to have a snowball fight.

"Hey, Moony! I just had a great idea," Sirius said.

Remus dropped the snowball he was shaping and moved closer to his friend. "What is it?"

Sirius' eyes twinkled with a devious look. "I was thinking that Mr. Moony and Mr. Padfoot might take a trip to Hogsmeade to buy our other comrades Christmas presents."

"Oh no," Remus backed away. "You are not buying presents for James and Peter and saying they are from me."

"Oh, but I am, Lupin. If you don't go with me, I'll buy dungbombs for them all. Including Lily. Now, come on, you know we won't be caught."

Three hours later, they were sitting in their chambers with large bags of sweets from Honeydukes and smartly wrapped presents for their friends. Sirius had purchased a few butterbeers for himself and his friend. They sat around laughing over things, drinking their beverages and wondering what the future held for them. "I was wondering how our lives are going to change after we graduate," Sirius said.

"I didn't know you thought of such things."

Sirius shook his head and continued to muse. "Have you thought about it, Moony?"

"Thought about what?"

"Prat! Thought about our lives in the future?"

"Maybe." Remus felt sick. What he thought about was something that would never happen, not in a million years. His hand was sweating and he was losing his grip on the bottle. He knocked back a giant gulp to keep from having to say anything. Remus swallowed, his parched mouth no better after the gulp of butterbeer. His eyes kept darting around the room, betraying him.

"C'mon, Moony. You have thought about what it's going to be like, right? Finding someone to share your life with. Growing up. Moving on with our lives? James and Lily are going to marry straight out of school, and I was wondering what we were going to do."

_What we were going to do?_ Remus shook his head, hoping he wouldn't have to rehash the blind date that James had set him up on.

"So, Moony, what's up?" Sirius asked casually, his arm draped across Remus' headboard. "Isn't there someone that you've been pining away for? Someone that you want to share yourself with after we're out of school?"

Remus frowned. It was now or never, he thought. "Remember how I said that I thought about someone else when I kissed Sarah Underwood?" "Yes?"

Remus stared at his trousers, picking imaginary lint off of them. He continued, "Remember how you asked if Lily was the one I thought about?"

Sirius nodded, his hand gripping the wooden headboard tightly.

"It's not Lily, but it is someone we know."

"A Gryffindor?"

Remus took another gulp of butterbeer, but it choked him. His throat was raspy when he answered, "Yes. But it's not a girl."

The room was very quiet. Remus coughed a few times while Sirius stared at him. He finally broke the silence. "So, you fancy boys?"

"No. Yes. I mean, just one boy," Remus stammered.

Sirius moved a little, his feet dangling off of Moony's bed. "Is it James?" he asked. "I sometimes notice you watching him."

Remus smiled a little. "No, not Prongs."

"Well, who then?"

Remus was quiet again, and with his head bowed his whispered, "It was you, Sirius." In that moment, he swore he could hear every beat of his heart, every slight movement of the earth. Sirius hadn't reacted or even responded. Remus was afraid. Finally, he could hear Padfoot take a deep breath, exhaling forcefully.

"You thought of me when you kissed Overbite."

Remus nodded.

"And you know that was what you wanted, was to snog me?"

Remus shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"Well, we should bloody well find out," Sirius said, as he gave Remus a soft kiss on the lips.

Lupin froze; there was a thousand emotions running through him. This was what he wanted that night in the garden with Sarah. This warmth of Sirius' body next to his, this feeling of his lips upon his. A tingle ran down his spine. This was it. It was then that he realized Sirius was still kissing him.

Their tongues connected slowly, like a ritual dance. Lupin was nervous, shaking, but Sirius held him closer, rubbing his back. The kiss was broken and Padfoot smiled at him.

"Is that what you wanted, Remus?" He didn't answer. "Did you at least enjoy it?" Sirius grabbed Remus' hand and held it to his chest.

"Do you feel that? It's my heart. It's still beating. I'm still here. Isn't there anything you want to say?"

Remus sat there for a few moments, wondering why he had been afraid in the first place. Sirius had always known him in a way that no one else had. Moony smiled and squeezed his friend's hand. "You're a good kisser, Sirius Black."

Padfoot smiled, deliberately sexy. His eyes twinkled. "I've had a little practice, but I think you could teach me a few things. Would you like to?"


End file.
